Install on macOS

The editor is built for Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and later) running macOS 15 or newer. Everything it needs is inside the app, including Vulkan (MoltenVK, which runs it on Metal), so there’s nothing else to install to run it.

Install

1. Download crossfire-editor-<version>-macos_arm64.dmg from the Download page (or the GitHub releases, marked pre-release).

2. Open the disk image and drag Crossfire Editor onto Applications.

3. Open Crossfire Editor from Applications. The first time, macOS refuses (see the next section).

Opening it the first time (Gatekeeper)

The app is signed ad hoc but not notarized by Apple yet, so Gatekeeper blocks it the first time with a message like “Apple could not verify Crossfire Editor is free of malware”. You only have to allow it once. Either:

1. Try to open the app once, and close the message.

2. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security. Near the bottom, beside the message about Crossfire Editor, click Open Anyway, and confirm with your password.

or remove the quarantine flag in a terminal:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Crossfire Editor.app"

Note

On macOS 14 and older, right-click > Open was enough. macOS 15 removed that shortcut, so use Privacy & Security or xattr.

First run

The app is read-only, so the editor keeps its settings and build folders in ~/Library/Application Support/crossfire-editor, and copies the demo project to ~/Documents/Crossfire Editor the first time it starts. Press F5 to play it.

Shortcuts written with Ctrl in these docs and the manual are Cmd on a Mac (Cmd+S saves, Cmd+B builds). The editor shows them that way.

Scripts: Odin and a linker

Projects without scripts play and export with nothing else installed: the app carries a prebuilt game player.

Projects with scripts are compiled, which needs two things:

1. Odin. In the editor’s window, open Edit > Settings… (Cmd+,) > Toolchain and press Install Odin dev-2026-10. It downloads the version the engine uses (about 70 MB) into ~/Library/Application Support/crossfire-editor. Homebrew’s odin is usually older than the engine needs, so prefer this button.

2. Xcode’s command line tools, which give Odin its linker (clang). In a terminal:

   xcode-select --install

   The full Xcode works too.

3. Check Settings > Toolchain again: Odin compiler and Linker (clang) should have a green check.

The demo project has scripts, so it needs these too. See Settings and the toolchain for every row of that tab.

Common problems

macOS says “Crossfire Editor is damaged and can’t be opened”. That’s Gatekeeper again, on a downloaded app it can’t verify. Run the xattr command above, then open it.

It doesn’t open on an Intel Mac. There’s no Intel build yet: the app is arm64 only.

Play says “No Odin compiler” or the build fails at linking. The project has scripts: install Odin and the command line tools as above. The Output tab (Cmd+J opens the bottom panel) shows what the build said.

Games I export warn other people the same way. Exported macOS games are signed ad hoc, not notarized. Players allow them the same way (Privacy & Security, or xattr). See Exporting.

Note

Next: Your first game.